9 of the best vegetables to grow using the square foot gardening method – for big harvests in small spaces

Square foot gardening is a fantastic way to grow lots of homegrown vegetables in a small space. It is an efficient way to grow crops and I've found nine of the best vegetables to grow using the square foot gardening method.

The truth is that all manner of vegetables can be grown in a square foot garden. When square foot gardening, you can grow whatever plants you want. The space is limited, but you can pick and choose what to fill your space with to suit your preferences or needs. However, some veggies are better suited than others.

When you start a vegetable garden using this method, the space is divided into square foot sections. Each vegetable you plant takes up one square and the number of plants in that section depends on its size. Below we look at some of the best vegetables to grow using the square foot gardening method and reveal how many plants to have per square foot.

Growing vegetables using the square foot gardening method

The following nine crops are some of the best vegetables to grow using the square foot gardening method and could all be grown together in a space. When choosing varieties, try looking for ones with terms like ‘baby’ or ‘dwarf’ in their name as they are more compact and suited to growing packed together in a small space.

The crops below go from largest to smallest.

Tomatoes

Everyone loves growing tomatoes and they can be planted as part of this method. As one of the larger vegetables for square foot gardening, it means one plant per square.

However, even though you only have one tomato plant per section there are still lots of tomato varieties to choose from. Indeterminate tomatoes, also called vining types, are the best as they can grown vertically and take up less ground space.

Discover the range of tomato plants and seeds at Amazon

Discover the range of tomato plants and seeds at Walmart

Discover the range of tomato plants and seeds at Burpee

Eggplant

Eggplants are another where you have one plant per square foot, but they are very productive and you can have more than enough eggplant to pick from one plant. Give them support and train the eggplant vertically on a vegetable garden trellis.

This stops fruits from sitting on the soil and getting nibbled by pests, while the plants can provide shade to other crops as part of companion planting during the growing season.

Discover the range of eggplant plants and seeds at Amazon

Discover the range of eggplant plants and seeds at Walmart

Discover the range of eggplant plants and seeds at Burpee

Lettuce

Lettuce is great for succession planting and there is a plethora of leaf shapes, colors, textures, and flavors to pick between. Plant four lettuce per square foot, taking advantage of taller crops by planting lettuce in a spot that will get shade during summer.

This will stop the lettuce plants from bolting and the reward is a longer harvest. You can harvest lettuce as a cut-and-come-again crop or cut the entire heads.

Discover the range of lettuce seeds at Amazon

Discover the range of lettuce seeds at Walmart

Discover the range of lettuce seeds at Burpee

Swiss chard

Both highly decorative and highly productive, growing Swiss chard is worthwhile in any square foot garden plan. The plants are colorful and low-maintenance, providing a large, and long, harvest of Swiss chard leaves if you regularly harvest the oldest, outer leaves and let the younger, central ones continue growing.

Plant four Swiss chard plants per square foot and remember to harvest regularly once the leaves are large enough to use.

Beets

If you grow beets in a square foot garden you can fit nine plants per square, meaning a rich harvest of beets from such a small space. The easiest way to plant beets is to sow seeds outdoors directly in the planting site from spring onwards.

Sow the seeds an inch deep into nine evenly-spaced holes and thin the seedlings as they develop so you have healthy young beets in a square. They are easy vegetables to grow, simply keep the soil moist and well-weeded, and then you can start harvesting beets when they reach the size of a golf ball.

Bush Beans

Bush beans are ideal for small vegetable gardens as they grow to only a few feet tall, but crop just as well as pole beans and are ready to harvest quicker. You get a great harvest of bush beans for the footprint they take up.

If you want to add bush beans to any square foot vegetable garden, you can squeeze nine plants into each square. I have particularly got great harvests when growing dwarf French beans in kitchen gardens and would recommend them for a square foot garden.

Carrots

Carrots are one of the smaller vegetables to grow in a square foot garden and you grow 16 per square. Always plant carrots by sowing seeds directly into the soil. While carrots are usually sown in drills, for this method it is better to make 16 holes that are a half-inch deep.

Sow 2-3 carrot seeds per hole, as they are not the most reliable at germinating, and cover with soil. Keep moist and you should have carrots to harvest in 12-16 weeks. When choosing carrots to grow, shorter varieties are more suited to square foot gardening.

See the range of carrot seeds at Amazon

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See the range of carrot seeds at True Leaf Market

Scallions

Scallions, spring onions, and green onions are great for square foot gardening as they are simple to grow vegetables that can also repel lots of pests thanks to their strong aroma. You can grow 16 of these small, thin onions in one square foot.

Similar to planting carrots, make 16 evenly-spaced holes in the soil and plant a few onion seeds per hole. Seeds can be sown throughout spring and early summer and the fast growing vegetables can be ready to harvest in 50-60 days. The variety 'White Lisbon' is a reliable scallion and you can get Bunching Onion 'White Lisbon' seeds at Burpee.

Radish

Another speedy and small vegetable to grow using the square foot gardening method, growing radishes can provide harvests of peppery roots to spice up any summer salad bowl.

Plant radish seeds into 16 holes made per square and keep the crop well-watered for the best harvest of radishes. Small, summer radish varieties such as ‘French Breakfast’, available at Burpee, are ideal for this method and you can get harvests within 30 days from sowing.

Winter varieties, such as daikon radish, grow much larger and only nine could fit into a square.

FAQs

How many cucumber plants can you grow per square foot?

When growing cucumbers in the square foot gardening system, they are large plants that will do best when planted at one plant per square foot.

How many peas per square foot?

Plant nine peas per square foot. Sow the peas into inch-deep holes in the soil and keep them moist. Peas benefit from having a trellis or pea sticks in place to climb up.

There are other ways to enjoy homegrown vegetables in smaller spaces. This includes growing vegetables in a container garden on a patio, deck, or balcony. For more inspiration, see our guide to the best vegetables to grow in pots.